Taiwan’s outlying islands are all special, but the crown jewel of them all must surely be Lanyu! A tiny green dot in the middle of a vast blue ocean, and on a sunny day (or 3) wow, the island glimmers … Continue reading WOW! Lanyu 蘭嶼 Orchid Island, Taiwan
Alishan, ah Alishan! Famous for its sunrises, tea, cherry blossom, ‘sacred’ trees, sea of clouds and its mountain railway. The place everyone goes once in their lifetime. Visitors from all over the world, and especially from the Chinese-speaking world are … Continue reading Alishan 阿里山 Sunrise and Cherry Blossom ~ Happy Easter 2018!
It’s Holy Week and the sun is shining all week in Taipei, yippee! Today is Maundy Thursday, and appropriate for Maundy Thursday is a visit to Zhongshan Presbyterian Church (中山基督長老教會) in central Taipei (62, Linsen N. Rd 林森北路62號), where the small stained glass window above the altar is of Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, while his disciples are fast asleep nearby. The window at the back of the church is of Jesus the Good Shepherd… This morning, very early, I cycled past this church on my way into Taipei. The sun was shining, the sky was blue and the traffic … Continue reading Zhongshan Presbyterian Church, Taipei 中山基督長老教會
A major extravaganza is on down in Taiwan’s south central city of Chiayi. If you get a chance, GO! Every year, a different city or county is chosen to host Taiwan’s main lantern festival, and every year, thousands and thousands flock there from all over the country to attend. Including me. I love to go! This year it is the turn of Chiayi. And what an extravaganza it is! Last year, the Year of the Rooster, the main lantern festival was held in Yunlin. The year before, the Year of the Monkey, it was held in Taoyuan. Both of those … Continue reading Happy Year of the Dog ~ Taiwan’s Lantern Festival 2018 @ Chiayi!
Beautiful red maple leaves against a blue sky ~ now how’s that for a perfect picture of autumn?! And the best place in Taiwan to see maples in autumn is at the high elevations, up in the central mountain range. … Continue reading Autumn Colours, Mountain Views! 台灣聖公會2017年蒙恩得福家庭生活營 Taiwan Episcopal Church Fall Trip 2017
Today is THE day, the climax of 5 days of celebrations, and as I write this, events are ongoing, with firecrackers and drums and trumpets and singing and offerings and all sorts of activity, and being attended by nearly everyone in the whole town. And all in the rain and cold! It’s been like this all weekend, but hey, when there’s a festival in town, a bit of rain and cold won’t stop anyone. But this was the scene on Thursday, the last time that the sun appeared in Sanzhi! Two weeks ago, I wrote here about the preparations for the … Continue reading Sanzhi 三芝 Matzu Temple Centenary Celebrations, 1917-2017
Been doing a bit of research among some of our students in the 15-17 year age group to find out who their pop idols are ~ part of my English conversation classes, so bringing you up to speed, here goes! Top of the list by far for everyone are the boy bands from S. Korea – all brought together on TV talent shows and promoted by the mega-entertainment industry that is so big in S. Korea. And currently top of the list of all of them is BTS. Super Junior is long over, now it is BTS. Our girls say … Continue reading Pop idols @ Taiwan-Style!
Two weeks ago the plot of wasteland opposite where I live suddenly sprang into life. Trucks full of bamboo poles arrived. People came. Cranes and trucks and people and – well, action! One week later, and this was the view from my front gate last Sunday…. Happening now right outside my house is the ongoing construction of a huge 4-storey structure, the site of a forthcoming 醮 (pronounced ‘jiaò) and loosely translated as meaning a Taoist Ritual. Copy this character ‘醮’ into Google images and you’ll see plenty of examples of what it might look like in a few weeks … Continue reading Sanzhi 三芝 Matzu Temple Centenary Celebrations ~ Coming Up Soon!
There’s no escaping Taipei 101 ~ it towers over everything in the Xinyi District of Taipei ~ including the old military dependents’ village of Sisinan 四四南村 (Four Four South Village), which is high on the list for tourists, who love taking photos of Taipei 101 and in front of the coloured doors. The buildings have a lot of character…. But it’s really hard to get all of Taipei 101 and the old buildings in the photo – diagonal is the best! Ah yes, blue sky, warm temperatures, what a great autumn so far ~ and Taipei’s looking great! Continue reading Four Four South Village 四四南村, Taipei
Catherine Lee 